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Govt’s Complicity Aiding Fraud At Federal University Lokoja-Stakeholders

Published

4 years ago

September 24, 2020

Admin

The actions and inactions of the federal government, anti-graft agencies, and involvement of citizens have been identified as the main factor abetting corruption, abuse of office, and violation of procurement processes by the authorities at Federal University, Lokoja, Kogi State.

The assertion was made by renowned Public Affairs Analyst, Jide Ojo, and an investigative journalist with the International Centre for Investigative Reporting (ICIR), Yakeen Akinwale during a radio program, PUBLIC CONSCIENCE produced by the Progressive Impact Organization for Community Development (PRIMORG).

The Auditor General of the Federation and ICIR had in their reports indicted the institution of an array of financial misappropriation and fraud under the watch of Prof. Angela Freeman Miri, the current Vice-Chancellor of the University.

It will also be recalled that the 2017 Auditor-General Annual Report stated that the university authorities failed to remit N61.9 million, being the 25 percent of Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) for 2015 and 2016 into the Federal Government’s Consolidated Revenue Fund account.

Reacting to the corruption report, the duo of Jide Ojo and Yakeen Adewale noted that the report indicting the school and the Vice-Chancellor has been in the public space with the federal government, anti-graft agencies, governing council of the university, and other stakeholders doing nothing to report the act or bring perpetrators to book.

Jide Ojo faulted the federal government, and members of the National Assembly for not taking action after hundreds of ministries, agencies, and department were fingered in massive misappropriation of fund in the Auditor General’s report of 2014 to 2017, stressing that It is part of the Senate and House of Representative committee on Public accounts responsibility to play oversight function on MDAs.

On why the government is reluctant to go after officials fingered in corruption at the Federal University, Lokoja, he said: “there is lack of political will because if petitions are written to different agencies and there are still no actions taken, it then shows that we are not serious about fighting corruption.

“Where is the university council in all of this? There are checks and balances within the system and if the university council is inaugurated and is in place, the council should have reacted to the report. Maybe what the anti-corruption agencies are looking for is a direct petition to them.”

Jide Ojo also wondered why the students’ union association failed to mount pressure on the school authorities to act. Saying: “the road to the school is not good and you have N61 million misappropriated. The universities in Nigeria are where characters are molded. We must reform our universities,” Jide Ojo stated.

Earlier, Yakeen Adewale revealed that one of the most outstanding aspects of their investigation was the payment of public funds into the Vice-Chancellor’s private account for renting of her official residence upon her appointment in March 2016.

His words: “The payment was a violation of the Procurement Act because the money ought to have been paid into a designated committee account that ought to have executed the project on behalf of the university not directly into her account and it did not end there. When the money was paid, the Vice-Chancellor also did some transfer from that amount into the account that belongs to her son and another fellow who is neither a staff of the university nor relation.”

The syndicated radio program is produced weekly by PRIMORG with the support from the MACARTHUR FOUNDATION.

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Business

Tax Reform Bills: The Verdict of Nigerians

Published

1 week ago

March 6, 2025

The Gleamer

Ismaila Ahmad Abdullahi Ph.D

The public hearings conducted recently by the two Chambers of the National Assembly have elicited positive responses from a broad spectrum of Nigerians, cutting across regional interest groups, government agencies, civil society groups, concerned individuals, the academia, and Labour Unions, among diverse others. Contrary to a few dissensions hitherto expressed in the media, almost all the stakeholders who spoke during the week-long sessions were unanimous in their declaration that the hallowed Chambers should pass the tax reform bills after a clean-up of the grey areas.

The public hearings were auspicious for all Nigerians desirous of economic growth and fiscal responsibility. They were also a watershed moment for the Federal Inland Revenue Service, which had been upbeat about the tax reforms. Indeed, the public hearings had rekindled hope in the tenets of democracy that guarantee freedom of expression and equitable space for cross-fertilisation of ideas. Without gainsaying the fact, the tax reform bills have been unarguably about the most thought-provoking issues in Nigeria today, drawing variegated perspectives and commentaries from even unlikely quarters such as the faith-based leaders, student bodies, and trade unions, which speaks much about the importance of the bills.

In the build-up to the public hearings, not many people believed that the bills would make it to the second reading, much less the public hearings. Even the Northern stakeholders who seemed unlikely to support the passage of the bills have softened their stance and have given valuable suggestions that would enrich the substance of the bills. The Arewa Consultative Forum came to the public hearings well-prepared with a printed booklet that addressed their concerns. It concluded with an advisory that the bills should be “Well planned, properly communicated, strategically implemented and ample dialogue and political consensus allowed for the reforms to be accepted.”

The concerns of ACF ranged from the composition of the proposed Nigeria Revenue Service Board as contained in Part 111, Section 7 of the bill, the unlimited Presidential power to exempt/wave tax payment as proposed in Section 75(1) of the bill, the family income or inheritance tax as contained in Part 1, Section 4(3) of the bill, to the issues around development levy and VAT. On the development levy, the ACF stated that unless the Federal Government is considering budgetary funding for TETFUND, NASENI and NITDA, it does not see the “wisdom behind the plan to replace (them) with NELFUND”.

The position of the North was equally reinforced by the Supreme Council for Shariah in Nigeria, Northern Elders Forum, Kano State Government, Professor Auwalu Yadudu, and the FCT Imams. Like the ACF, these stakeholders lent their respective voices to the Section on the Inheritance Tax in Part 1 of the bill and the use of the term ‘ecclesiastical’, which, in their views, undermines certain religious rights and beliefs. The Kano State Government, represented by Mahmud Sagagi, affirmed that “we support tax modernisation” but cautioned that “we must ensure that this process does not come at the expense of states’ constitutional rights and economic stability”. Professor Auwalu Yadudu, a constitutional law professor, drew attention to the use of the ‘supremacy clause’ and cautioned that the repeated use of “notwithstanding” in the bills would undermine the supremacy of the Nigerian constitution if passed as such.

Other stakeholders that made contributions at the sessions included the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas, Fiscal Responsibility Commission, Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission, Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria, Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria, Nigeria Customs Service, and a host of others. While most of their concerns bordered on technical issues requiring fine-tuning, they were unanimous in their support for the bills. They aligned with the position of the Executive Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service, Zacch Adedeji, Ph.D. and the Chairman of the Presidential Committee on Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms, Mr Taiwo Oyedele, which is that the extant tax laws and fiscal regulations are obsolete necessitating reforms aimed at creating a fair and equitable tax and fiscal space to grow Nigeria’s economy.

In one of the sessions, Dr Zaach Adedeji expounded on the criss-cross of trade activities in the Free Trade Zone whereby companies misuse tax waivers as exporters to sell their goods or services in the Customs Area at an amount usually less than the price the operators in the Customs Area who pay VAT and other taxes sell theirs thereby disrupting business transactions. This way, the operators in the Free Trade Zone shortchange the government in paying their due taxes by circumventing extant regulations, which are inimical to the economy’s growth.

Overall, the presentations were forthright, foresighted, and helpful in elucidating the issues contained in the bills. According to the statistics read out at the end of the hearings at the Senate, 75 stakeholders were invited, 65 made submissions, and 61 made presentations. At the House of Representatives 53 stakeholders made presentations. By all means, this is a fair representation. Given the presentations, it is evident that the National Assembly has gathered enough materials to guide its deliberations on the bills. As we look forward to the passage of the bills, we commend the leadership of the National Assembly for their unwavering commitment to making the bills see the light of the day.

Abdullahi is the Director of the Communications and Liaison Department, FIRS.

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